Open AccessNationalism, Ideology, and the Cold War Space Race
Author(s) -
Samantha Kallen
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
constellations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2562-0509
DOI - 10.29173/cons29377
Subject(s) - nationalism , rivalry , prestige , ideology , cold war , race (biology) , arms race , space (punctuation) , political economy , political science , period (music) , soviet union , law , sociology , gender studies , politics , aesthetics , economics , linguistics , philosophy , macroeconomics
One of the most enduring legacies of the Cold War period was the rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States. This is especially true if one considers the ‘Space Race,’ of the mid 1950s-1960s, where each country tried to out-do the other in all manner of space technology. This paper, while acknowledging the importance held by military and scientific goals, argues that it was matters of nationalism and prestige that provided the biggest motivation for the creation of new space technologies during this time.